North America
Assessing the Biden Presidency one year after his election – Rick Wolf & Yanis Varoufakis
, 06/11/2021
In this edition of THE INTERNATIONALIST, following news from the global struggle against reactionaries, Rick Wolf and I discuss the US situation (from the 8th minute onwards). Yes, it has been one year since Joe Biden came into office. While he is at COP26 making weak and unconvincing commitments on the climate, the global crisis […]
On Merkel’s Legacy, European Politics & the “Sordid Arms Race” on the Seas – On Democracy Now, with Amy Goodman
, 11/10/2021
The centre-left Social Democratic Party in Germany has narrowly claimed victory in an election that marks an end to the 16-year era of Angela Merkel’s conservative chancellorship. We look at what this means for Europe and the world with Yanis Varoufakis, a member of the Greek Parliament and the former finance minister of Greece. The […]
Trumpism after Trump – NEWSWEEK magazine, interviewed by Basit Mahmood
, 12/02/2021
He’s been described as the George Clooney of the government, a rockstar politician who took on the EU and an “erratic Marxist.” Few politicians can hope – or fear – to achieve the levels of notoriety Yanis Varoufakis did in just six months while serving as finance minister of Greece. A world-renowned economist, Varoufakis now […]
Η Αλήθεια Μετά τον Τραμπ – από την στήλη μου στο 24 | 7
, 03/02/2021
Οι αντίπαλοι του Ντόναλντ Τραμπ τον αποκαλούν ψεύτη. Το πρόβλημα όμως είναι ότι ο Τραμπ είναι κάτι πολύ χειρότερο από ψεύτης. Ο Νίξον έλεγε ψέματα για να θάψει αλήθειες, το ίδιο κι ο Κλίντον και πολλοί άλλοι. Όχι, το πρόβλημα με τον Τραμπ είναι ότι μέσα σ’ ένα χείμαρρο ψεύδους που έβγαινε από το στόμα του που […]
Is it sensible to fret about public debt’s rise during the pandemic? A debate with Todd G. Buchholz on Pairagraph
, 23/01/2021
Is public debt a bomb about to explode taking us down? Or is fretting about public debt a tactic for preparing public opinion for a new austerity drive that will cause debt to grow even faster? Read my debate with Todd G. Buchholz organised by pairagraph.com (see here for the original publication) Todd G. Buchholz’s […]
“Global Trade & Capital Imbalances imperil Global Stability” – Redaction Politics reviews my Holberg 2020 debate with John Bolton
, 30/12/2020
Redaction Politics published a review of my Holberg 2o2o debate with John Bolton on Global Stability. Their review is reproduced below. To watch the debate click here. Yanis Varoufakis lamented economic equality and pushed for global co-operation while John Bolton urged diplomatic confrontation as the pair battled over the question of “global stability” last week. […]
‘The Jimmy Dore Show’ goes to town with my take on the US Presidential election…
, 11/12/2020
For my complete assessment of the US Presidential 2020 election results see below:
The op-ed that The Guardian would have published had Trump won: Compare and contrast
, 11/11/2020
Before the US Presidential Election the Guardian kindly asked me to write two articles: one in case of a Biden victory, one in case of a Trump victory. I was happy to write them, only to be startled by how similar the two articles ended up being. Interested readers can read here the article that […]
Hoping for a return to normal after Trump? That’s the last thing we need – The GUARDIAN
, 11/11/2020
Normalcy and the restoration of a modicum of decorum to the White House: that is what many elite supporters of Joe Biden hope for now that he has won the election. But the rest of us are turned off by this meagre ambition. Voters who loathe Trump celebrate his loss, but the majority rue the return […]
Brian Eno’s take on the US Presidential Election result
, 10/11/2020
Once again, Brian and I are singing from the same hymn sheet – just as we did on the day after the Brexit referendum, the last UK General Election etc. Having just received an email containing his gut feeling about the next four years in the US, I thought I should share it with you. […]
Joe Biden, we are happy that you beat Trump. But here is why we shall oppose you, starting today – video
, 09/11/2020
Biden has won. And thank goodness for that. BUT, it is the Biden Democrats who have proven time & again their determination to prevent ANY challenge to the power & wealth of the few causing the discontent that is propelling Trumpism. As of today, after one day of celebrations, progressives must unite against the reactionary […]
How worried should Americans be about public debt? My debate with Todd G. Buchholz on pairagraph.com
, 24/10/2020
How worried should Americans (indeed the rest of the world too) be about public debt. In this running exchange Todd G. Buchholz, White House director of economic policy for President George H.W. Bush, financier and author, and Yanis Varoufakis, academic economist, parliamentarian and author, answer the question. Invited to do so by debate forum pairagraph.com, […]
Debating wealth redistribution with Bob Reich vs Larry Summers & Allison Schrager – Bloomberg & intelligence2
, 12/10/2020
Watch the closing arguments in Bloomberg’s debate where Bob Reich and I supported the motion ‘It’s time to redistribute the wealth’ against Larry Summers and Allison Schrager who argued against.
The Brown University Journal of PPE interviews Krugman, Pinker & Varoufakis on Inequality, Financialisation, and Populism
, 11/04/2020
JPPE: Many economists have their explanations about where inequality comes from, such as financialization, credit, globalization, technology, and bad policy. When thinking about the causes of inequality in the last thirty years, are there specific areas you think we ought to devote our attention to? Yanis Varoufakis: Well, there’s one word that answers your question: […]
Is capitalism past its expiry date? Munk Debate (K, Vanden Heuvel & Y. Varoufakis vs A. Brooks & D. Brooks)
, 08/12/2019
The capitalist system is broken. It’s time to try something different. For my 3 minute conclusion of this debate, jump to 1 hour 59 minutes There is a growing belief in western societies that the current capitalist system no longer works for average people. Economic inequality is rampant. Life expectancy is falling. The environment is […]
A European Spring is possible – The Nation
, 14/03/2019
The 2008 global financial crisis—the modern 1929 crash—set off a vicious chain reaction across Europe. By 2010 it had irreparably damaged the foundations of the eurozone, causing the establishment to bend its own rules and commit crimes against logic in order to bail out its banker friends. By 2013 the neoliberal ideology that had legitimized […]
Talking Brexit, Bernie and Left Internationalism with Yanis Varoufakis – VICE
, 22/12/2018
Varoufakis talks to us about what he’s planning with the veteran US politician, why Jeremy Corbyn has been slow to support his campaigning efforts in Europe, and whether it’s possible for the UK to “remain and reform” inside the EU. VICE: Can you start by telling me about your trip over to the US. What […]
On our efforts to unite progressives in Europe and internationally: A Buzzfeed News Long Read
, 22/12/2018
OXFORD, England — A police van smuggled Steve Bannon past protesters in Oxford last month, a stop on a promotional tour for his new project to boost “populist nationalism” across Europe. Bannon’s speech at the Oxford Union, a grand debate hall that has hosted the likes of Albert Einstein and Mother Teresa, made headlines across […]
Is Neoliberalism destroying the world? A. Admati, S. Gindin, P. Mirowski & Y. Varoufakis interviewed by CBC Radio
, 01/10/2018
Deregulation. Infinite growth. Self-correcting markets. All are hallmarks of neoliberal thinking. But they’re more than just assumptions about the economy. They undergird much of the most influential thinking about governance right now, and dominate political and economic thinking everywhere. The results, according to some, have been disastrous. Investigative journalist Bruce Livesey asks four experts about the rise […]
CRASHED: Long version of my Observer review of Adam Tooze’s new book on the Crash of 2008
, 13/08/2018
Every so often humanity manages genuinely to surprise itself. Events to which we had previously assigned zero probability push us into what the ancient Greeks referred to as aporia: a state of intense bafflement urgently demanding a new model of the world we live in. The Crash of 2008 was such a moment. Suddenly, the […]
A letter to my daughter about the black magic of banking…
, 19/07/2018
As you grow up and experience more of the ups and downs of the economy, you will notice a piece of mindbending hypocrisy: during the good times, bankers, entrepreneurs—rich people in general—tend to be against government. They criticize it as a “brake on development,” a “parasite” feeding on the private sector through taxation, an “enemy […]
Live at ‘Politics and Prose’, Washington DC
, 03/06/2018
Yanis Varoufakis discusses his books, Adults in the Room and Talking to my Daughter About the Economy, at Politics and Prose on 10th May 2018 In his eye-opening memoir, Adults in the Room, Varoufakis, Greece’s former Finance Minister, recounts his frustrating struggle to resolve Greece’s debt crisis without resorting to austerity measures. His book give […]